Today a customer walked into my store who works with learning disabled kids at the nearby high school. She asked for game recommendations, and I'm sorry to admit I was somewhat stumped as to what to show her.

She wasn't looking to buy today, so I told her I would do a little research and hopefully have some things to show her when she came back.

I can't find any appropriate geeklist, and web searches are not helping me. Is there anyone here who has experience with learning disabled kids who can point me in the right direction?

Man... this is a tough question without knowing more. What kind of learning disabilities are we talking about? Are they learning disabilities and not cognitive development disabilities? That info would really help.

WITH that being said, I'm gonna rattle off some guidelines for games that should encompass most major learning disabilities:

Minimal reading required on piecesThis allows for the child to focus on the what as opposed to getting frustrated trying to read words, regardless of their difficulty. Many learning disabilities begin with reading difficulty, so minimizing the amount of reading "in-game" would be ideal.

Short-ish Play TimeWe all know that long games can be hard on even the most intelligent, seasoned gamer. Games for a child with a learning disability should probably shoot to be under an hour. The ideal time for an adolescent's attention is actually closer to 50 minutes (hence that being the "usual" time for classes in school), but I think an hour would probably be okay.

Minimal DowntimeThis is again due to the attention deficiencies not only in adolescents, but the fact that they are generally heightened in children with learning disabilities. I think any game where everyone can play relatively quickly without much downtime is always a plus, but would be even more beneficial in this setting. Which leads to:

Light amount of 'options'This is, of course, to try and escape from AP. Assuming the kids are 13-18, I don't think there is any reason to condescend and give them a game with no options; however, keeping the play options to a minimum can only help.

Visually appealingThis is a selling point for any game, but I think it would be particularly beneficial to students with learning disabilities. Having a game that is attractive can only be a bonus. I've gotten many a people interested in BattleLore based solely on the bits alone.

Cooperative PotentialI think that any cooperative game could really be good as well. The cooperative nature of a game like Pandemic has worked extraordinarily well for me in the classroom with all types of students. It also requires communication between the players to be successful, which, from my experience, can only be a good thing for students with learning disabilities.

Based on this, Carcassonne seems to be a pretty obvious fit. I've played it with lower level reading 6th graders, and they loved it. Surprisingly, I think a game like Kingsburg could actually work, too. Everyone loves to roll dice, right?

Obviously, games like Caylus would probably be a bad idea. Lots of options could potentially lead to some frustrated youngsters.

This is by no means an end-all, be-all list. I think it's pretty good based on my experiences with students with different learning disabilities, and I think encompasses most of the problems that cause these students to struggle.

since it's a school group the customer was aiming at, it's probably a wide range of disabilities.

in my experience trying to teach things to my brother (who has a learning disability, and thus the basis of me opening my mouth on the subject), the hurdle is not the depth of strategy in a game, but the basic play explanation. even small clever mechanics can be hard to express well, and the more people you're dealing with, the greater the chance that one of them will find any given aspect to be a stumbling block. for instance, while i agree with blokus, i can actually picture having someone get hung up on the "you have to be touching your own color, but only at the corners of the pieces" part.

thus my suggestions are aimed at being low explanation games, and are hard to mess up even if you're just mimicking the (low dexterity required) motions of the other players (and those players that grasp the strategy will grasp it, those that don't, don't, and everyone has fun). and yes, that means some ameritrash:

You wanted the best, You got the best, The hottest band in the World..KISS!

Hi I hope the following helps a little further.Unfortunately without knowing what level of learning difficulties the children have it could be quite difficult to compile a list of suitable games.Several years ago a good friend of mine and his wife were live-in carers in a residential care home for young adults with learning difficulties and disabilities.To engage the residents in a group of activities, we would play various games to help them interact with each other and to gain new skills or processes. Some of the games probably do not feature to highly on the Geek but were excellent fun at the time. Some have been memtioned by a previous poster;Guess WhoKer-Plunkothers includedConnect 4BuckarooThese games help on several levels with motor and co ordination skills. Several newer games also come to mind that might prove useful, again previously mentioned are;Apples to Apples juniorHey Thats My FishOthers I think may help are;MetroCarcassonne (basic game only)These are simple tile laying games. Other games that may prove useful are set collecting games, Ticket to Ride being a very good example as the game is easy to learn and the components are colourful which often appeals to children.I hope this has provided a few more ideas, as I have often found games which promote a certain amount of interaction between a group of people are beneficial on many levels. Also from a remedial perspective, learning the different meanings or interpretation of game components can have a beneficial knock on effect away from the games table.

I wish you all the best in your endeavour to help, and I hope the children get some enjoyment and fun in the process.

Good luck with this, really! Perhaps you could show the teacher to the site? She would know better than anyone here what questions to ask to find games that would fit her kids. I've volunteered with disabled children before and I can only imagine how tough it is to work with them full time. Hats off from this geek!

That said, I really want to throw in a recommendation for Carcassonne (seems the obvious choice). Don't forget to encourage her to house/nix rules she feels are causing too much hassle (I'm thinking farmers in this case)

Drakon is another easy going tile layer, but taking coins from each other might create issues with some of the children.

EDIT: Can I throw in Mag Blast 3rd? I say 3rd because of the art, the quality of the components, and the fact that every special is written on the special cards. You only need to remember set-up, turn sequence, and how ship trading works.

As a former special education teacher, the term "learning disabled" covers a tremendous amount of ground from difficulties with reading and basic math to much more severe disorders.

As for me, I did a LOT of chess with my LD/BD/ED students. Chess has the advantage of being very tactile, 3D and simple to learn. I made it part of most of my math classes and even gave "extra credit" for both winning and losing with grace. You only lost points for winning with arrogance or losing with a tantrum. The advantage of chess in school is that its an easy sell to parents and administration.

I also did Plague & Pestilence and Nuclear War in my history classes, but then again I was a rogue teacher!